NOTRE DAME MEN’S BASKETBALL
For one day, everything about the Notre Dame men’s basketball season is solely about this one game.
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Forget the five-game losing streak. Forget the (needed) upcoming 11-day break for final exams next week. Forget everything that’s happened in the past and what might happen in the future, and focus only on 40 minutes Saturday.
Focus on the Atlantic Coast Conference opener at home against Syracuse (4-3). Opening 1-0 in league play is paramount for an Irish team that has seemingly had its confidence crippled. Getting off to a solid start in league play at home? An absolute must.
Noie: Could struggling Notre Dame men’s basketball muster up a needed win away from home?
Think of this one-off league game in early December as a one-game season. Start 1-0, and everything about what follows might look and feel a lot brighter.
One game. Whatcha got, Irish?
When does Saturday’s game between Notre Dame and Syracuse start? Is it on TV? Are tickets available?
☘ WHO: Syracuse (4-3 overall; 0-0 ACC) vs. Notre Dame (4-5; 0-0)
☘ WHERE: Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
☘ WHEN: Saturday at Noon
☘ TV: The CW.
☘ RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
☘ ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at X (formerly Twitter) at twitter.com/tnoieNDI and at Bluesky at @tomnoie.bsky.social.
Three pressing questions for Notre Dame
☘ Can the Irish recommit to rebounding?
☘ Is another starting lineup change imminent?
☘ How can Notre Dame’s homecourt be an actual advantage?
Scouting the Orange
Freshman guard Elijah Moore came off the bench with a career-high 24 points as Syracuse played its first true road game Tuesday, a 96-70 loss at No. 3 Tennessee in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Orange allowed 51 points in the second half and trailed by double figures for the final 26 minutes. … Former Notre Dame guard J.J. Starling is out indefinitely after suffering a broken left hand this week in practice. The junior is averaging 19.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 36.6 minutes per game. He spent his freshman season in South Bend before transferring closer to his Baldwinsville, New York home. … Syracuse returned two starters off last year’s team that finished 20-12 overall, 11-9 and tied for fifth in the ACC. The Orange were picked this preseason to finish 11th in the 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference. … Syracuse is a repeat opponent for the third time in the last five seasons. The teams meet January 18 at the JMA Wireless Dome.
By the numbers
4/6: Number of transfers added this season/transfers lost from last season on the Orange roster.
17: Number of dunks this season for the Orange, an stat kept/updated in the team’s game notes.
20: The Orange won 20 games last season for the first time since 2018-19.
332: Syracuse’s current national ranking for scoring defense (80.9 ppg.) which ranks last in the 18-team ACC.
Keep an eye on …
Small forward Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 209-pound freshman from Washington, D.C. Freeman shared ACC rookie of the week honors this week with Cal guard Jeremiah Wilkinson after 23 points and 12 rebounds in the November 27 home win over Cornell.
Freeman is third on the squad in scoring (11.7) and first in rebounding (8.4) in 25.4 minutes. He’s grabbed at least 10 rebounds in four of his first seven games. Freeman was a teammate last season of Irish freshman guard Cole Certa and IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Quoting the Orange
“I’m disappointed. This is an unacceptable performance. We have to do and we will do better. There’s no way around it. This is not what this is. This is not Syracuse basketball. We have to right the ship now.”
-Head coach Adrian Autry after Tuesday’s loss at No. 3 Tennessee
Series history
Syracuse leads the all-time series 34-23, 15-11 at Purcell Pavilion and 9-4 as ACC colleagues (since 2013-14). The Orange have won three straight and five of the last six. Notre Dame’s last win over Syracuse was February 23, 2022, 79-69, at Purcell Pavilion.
The teams met once last season, an 88-85 Orange win in Central New York on February 24, 2024. Notre Dame trailed by as many as 29 late in the first half before getting to within three in the closing minute. The Irish scored a season-best 56 points and shot 68.8 percent from the field in the second half.
Scouting the Irish
Sophomore point guard Markus Burton is still out for an indefinite period with a right knee injury. The Irish are 0-4 since their leading scorer was hurt early in the loss to Rutgers on November 24. … Tae Davis and Braeden Shrewsberry each scored 14 points in Tuesday’s 69-48 loss at Georgia. The Irish were outrebounded 40-27 and finished with a season-low five assists. Their previous season low for assists was 12. … Notre Dame was picked in preseason to finish 10th in the 18-team ACC. … The Irish rank 203rd (out of 355 teams) for scoring offense (74.8 ppg.), 203 in scoring margin (+3.6) and 221 in assists (13.3).
By the numbers
3: Notre Dame opens ACC play one of only three conference teams (Miami, Fla.; Virginia Tech) with a losing record in non-conference.
6: Consecutive ACC opener losses for Notre Dame, which last started 1-0 in league play in 2017-18 with a home win over Georgia Tech. The Irish won four of their first five ACC openers after joining the league in 2013-14.
8-12: After going 9-1 at home in ACC play in 2021-22, the Irish are a combined 8-12 (5-5, 3-7) over the last two seasons.
26:63: Average amount of time the Irish have trailed in each of their last five games (losses). Taht includes trailing for at least 31:20 in each of the last three games.
Keep an eye on …
Freshman power forward Garrett Sundra. After playing 5:45 minutes in the first seven games (with five DNP-CDs, did not play, coach’s decision), Sundra has played 32:53 the last two games. He scored 11 points with four rebounds in 11 minutes last week against Creighton, then had five points and two rebounds in a career-high 21:44 minutes Tuesday at Georgia.
The 6-11, 215-pound Sundra is averaging 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds while shooting .778 percent from the floor and .667 percent from 3 in 9.4 minutes over four games.
Quoting the Irish
“I’ve loved our resilience and I’ve loved how we’ve stayed together. Losing sucks. Nobody enjoys it. We’re all trying to fix it, but these guys haven’t strayed from staying together. I think that’s the most important thing for us.”
-Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry
Looking ahead
Notre Dame remains at home with a non-conference game Wednesday against Dartmouth (7 p.m., ACC Network Extra) before an 11-day break for final exams.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Don’t look now, but it’s already Atlantic Coast Conference basketball time
